A clydesdale no more!

Temperatures were absolutely perfect for running.  I'm feeling better but I'm still being a little cautious.  My energy level isn't completely back to normal and my stomach is still a little unsettled.  I was a little more fatigued than I should have been for the pace that I was running but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I ran the last 3 slightly downhill miles below 7:00/mile.  Hoping for some big improvements throughout the week so that I can have a decent race on Saturday.

Total Time: 53:56 (7:23/mile) 

Feeling better every day.  It took a couple miles to get going but once I warmed up, I was able to comfortably run at 7:30/mile.  Legs still aren't as strong as I would like but feel pretty good for the most part.  The one good thing about last week's reduced mileage is that all of the nagging injuries in my legs seem to have gone away.

Total Time: 1:16:28 (7:39/mile) 

I was desperately in need of some hills.  I haven't run near as many hills this training cycle as I usually do.  Didn't want to over do it with the race coming up this weekend and still trying to recover from last week's illness.  Decided to run up to Mueller Park canyon but not push the pace too much.  Felt really good during the run.  On the way down, I wanted to get 1 mile in at 1/2M pace.  I pushed the pace for one mile and was very disappointed to see that I barely broke 7:00.  I did have to stop for traffic a few times which threw off my pace but it was still slow.  I wasn't tired but the pace felt faster than 7:00.  My internal speedometer seems to be off.

Total Time: 1:25:03 (8:30/mile - 48:00 going up/37:03 coming down) 

Nice, easy recovery run.  Calves and hamstrings are a little sore from yesterday's hill run.  Legs area little heavy.

Total Time: 42:30 (8:30/mile)

Avg HR: 138 

The weather was really nice this morning.  It almost felt a little cold.  I feel like I am almost back to full strength.  I backed off the pace for the last couple of miles because I want to be fresh for Hobblecreek tomorrow.  I'm not sure what the race plan is going to be.  I will probably go out at 6:30/mile and try to hold on as long as possible.

Total Time: 1:01:23 (7:40/mile)

Avg HR: 149 

I wasn’t mentally ready to race today. I’ve been fighting the stomach flu for 2 weeks and I just haven’t felt speedy in quite a while. I started feeling better on Thursday so I figured I didn’t need to hold back during the race. Warmed up with an easy mile and discovered a top secret out house. After a 40 minute delay and an unapologetic race director making the final announcements we were on our way down the canyon. I tried lining up close to the starting line but ended up a few rows further back than I would have liked. It was very congested but I was able to get a clear path after a few minutes. My plan was to start out at 6:30 pace and try to hold it as long as possible. The first half of the race I felt pretty good and was able to hold a good pace. My average pace for the first 6 miles was 6:24 which was exactly where I wanted to be. Starting at mile 7, the course became more volatile (some uphill then some downhill then some flat) so my splits were all over the place. I also felt like I was asleep during the second half of the race. I just couldn’t convince my body to move faster. My legs were tired but not so much that I couldn’t have pushed harder. I was able to pass a few runners between miles 7 and 10, though. Somewhere around the 10 mile marker, I got behind another runner and followed him for the rest of the race. I kept thinking to myself that I need to make a move and pass him but the desire to move to the next level of pain just wasn’t there. I hung behind him until the 12.5 mile mark and then decided to pick it up and finally pass him. He ran just off my shoulder for a while then passed me. I mentally gave in at that point. As we passed the 13 mile marker, I decided to kick it in to high gear and pass him and one other runner once and for all. I was moving pretty well down the final stretch and saw 1:23:50 on the finish clock. I knew that I was going to come in under 1:24 and was pretty happy. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that my running partner for the last 3 miles decided to turn this into a real race. I tried to keep up but he just nipped me at the finish line. His finish time was 1:23:58.9 and mine was 1:23:59.2. What made it worse was that he was also in my age group.

I have mixed emotions about the race. It is a PR by almost 2 minutes and about what I expected to run which is good. I am a little disappointed in my lack of concentration. I really feel like I could have run at least 1 minute faster had I been more focused.

Here are my splits according to my Garmin which came consistently 0.15 after the mile markers starting at the 3rd mile.

Mile	Split	Note
1	6:22	A little fast but not too bad considering the amount of downhill
2	6:27
3	6:16
4	6:26
5	6:30	I started to worry a little that my pace was consistently slowing
6	6:21
7	6:42	Included a water/GU stop and a little bit of uphill
8	6:34	Another Gatorade stop
9	6:16
10	6:48	I have no idea why it was so slow
11	6:38	Falling asleep
12	6:39	Can't wake up
13.1	6:00/mile